A High School Story
by invader sugar
Summary: When a home-schooled nerd is suddenly the only student at her uncle's new school, she can't let his dream die. So she'll have to do whatever she can to make her school the best around. No matter what Hearst or anyone else has to say about the matter. Of course, she'll need some friends to help her on the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own High School Story. I have it on my iPad, but I don't think that counts.**

It started at dinner.

Rebecca was innocently chatting with her uncle, and legal guardian, about the benefits of home-schooling vs. public schools, when he suddenly paused, and his eyes started gleaming in a way that said he had just gotten an idea.

Of course, she just ignored it and decided that her uncle probably wasn't in a very talkative mood, so the rest of the dinner continued in silence as the idea took hold in her uncle's mind. It wasn't until a few months later that she found out about his plans.

He was going to build a school. And construction had already started. And she was going to be enrolled there.

She had tried to talk him out of it, tried desperately to get him to reconsider. But every point was deflected with a simple counter. It was too expensive? Her uncle was fairly well-off, and would be using her parent's inheritance to fund the school. There were already more than enough schools in the area? They were all pretentious and/or overpriced for tuition. She really, really, didn't want him to? Apparently not a reason.

Eventually, she was forced to concede defeat and spent the next few days sulking immaturely in her room while her uncle worked to get everything ready with the new school. In retrospect, it was extremely childish, but at the time she was mostly just upset that she couldn't stay home-schooled.

Soon, the big day came when the new school was opened, and Rebecca was forced to attend her new school. That morning, it was a struggle just to get out of bed.

Grumbling, she quickly changed out of her pyjamas and into some faded old grey jeans, paired with her lucky blue sweater and some black loafers she found sitting under her bed for some reason, before going over to the mirror and trying to brush her chocolate brown hair into some semblance of order. However, the most she could manage was a wild ponytail. It would have to do.

Pulling her glasses over her blue eyes, she forced herself to grin at her reflection before swapping it out in favour of her usual close-mouthed smile at the sight of her pointy teeth. Her uncle always said there was nothing wrong with her teeth, but she thought otherwise. Grabbing her bag full of books and comics, she walked out to catch the bus to her new school, trying to think of how much fun it would be.

She was going to make lots of friends.

She was going to be the best in her classes.

She was going to have an amazing time.

Then the bus arrived, and all her hopes were dashed.

She was doomed.

Rebecca frowned, looking over at the empty school in bewilderment. Although, in all honesty, calling it a school was probably a bit on the lenient side. Sure, it had most of the building parts, but there was nobody else there. No teachers, no students, not even a goat.

Apparently her uncle had completely forgotten that a school requires people.

Hearing some footsteps nearby, she realised that she was probably just a bit off in her earlier assumption.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out curiously, not expecting a response.

Instead, she was greeted by friendly-looking girl with a brown plait and a camera around her neck.

"Hey!" The girl greeted "I'm Autumn. I heard this school was opening today, so I stopped by to check it out!"

Rebecca simply blinked in surprise. This girl, Autumn, was definitely…enthusiastic, to say the least.

"This place isn't much to look at yet, but I bet you can make this the best school ever!" Autumn continued, smiling.

"You'll probably want a place to hang out" she told Rebecca, prompting a memory. Her uncle _had_ told her that she could use the extra classrooms to hang out, so long as she paid for all the supplies.

Smiling, Rebecca entered the school with the girl following, ducking into an empty room that didn't look like it was going to be a classroom any time soon, and started pulling comics out of her bag and setting up a rudimentary nerd-cave while the other girl watched, bemused.

When she was done setting up, she looked it over and smiled proudly at her work before the two exited the building and Autumn started talking again.

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you! I go to Hearst High. It's right over there." She explained, pointing to a nearby school.

So, that was the famous Hearst High.

Remembering the manners her uncle had instilled in her, Rebecca forced a smile that hopefully didn't show too many teeth.

"Nice to meet you, Autumn" she greeted, hoping that the other girl didn't notice how forced her smile was.

"Thanks! It was really boring before you got here."

Smiling light-heartedly, Rebecca couldn't help asking "so, do you usually hang around in empty schools?"

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, judging by Autumn's crestfallen expression.

"Actually, I come here pretty often to get away. The people at Hearst can be…well, they can be jerks." Autumn explained.

"I've been wanting to transfer to this school ever since I heard it was opening! But Hearst High is the most prestigious school in the area…and my dad won't let me transfer"

"That's why I'm so excited you're here! Since this school is just opening, it's really up to the people here to improve it." That made sense.

"You can make this school even better than Hearst High…and then my dad will let me transfer for sure!"

Rebecca smiled at the thought of not being alone in the empty school.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. Apparently Autumn's enthusiasm was infectious "This isn't going to be much of a school if I'm the only student."

Of course, if they were going to get new students in, then they would have to go to the Office first.

At the Office, there was a handful of Hearst High students lingering in front of the school and looking in curiously. Gritting her teeth and remembering her people skills, Rebecca left Autumn in the Office and stepped out in front of the school.

"Hi, what brings you here?" she asked a sporty looking girl who was playing with a basketball, frizzy hair in a wild ponytail.

The girl blushed "Well, I heard about this new school opening, and I was wondering if I could maybe join" she mumbled.

Rebecca blinked in surprise before grinning widely "great!" she exclaimed, leading the girl into the Office, much to her surprise.

Autumn was busy drawing in a sketchpad when Rebecca returned, digging through the forms until she found the right one, which she proudly presented to the sporty girl.

"Uh…what is this?" the girl asked, taking the form and reading over it.

"Just fill out the form, and we can have you joining the school today." Rebecca explained to the girl.

"You mean, just like that?" she asked, obviously surprised by the speed.

Rebecca simply nodded "I mean, technically you should probably think over whether or not you really want to leave your old school, and ask your parents for permission or something, but that's about it."

Of course, the girl was already filling out the forms with a frightening speed, quickly explaining that her mum had already given permission.

Once the form was filled out, Rebecca took it back and added it to the student register. At that point, a thought seemed to occur to the girl.

"Do you guys have any sport clubs or anything?" she asked, curious.

"Well, technically, no." Rebecca told her "but we can always start one!" she decided, leading the girl to the hallway where she had set up her rudimentary nerd-cave.

Picking a classroom right next to the nerd-cave, she led the girl inside and started clearing some space, setting mats down on the floor.

This seemed to satisfy the girl, who then introduced herself as Isabella and began enthusing about various forms of exercise that she hoped the school had.

"You're just full of energy, aren't you?" Autumn asked, causing Rebecca to jump in surprise. That girl was sneaky.

"Before we do any of that, though, shouldn't we probably go to class?" Rebecca asked, hoping that would derail Isabella's train of thought.

"Good point. You seem to be a little short on classes right now." Autumn commented

Rebecca smiled a bit awkwardly "yeah, well until they can get some teachers it's mostly just self-study." She explained "but we can probably set up a study room to help it along." She suggested.

So they did just that, setting up the desks in preparation for many students eventually coming to study

"The school's first classroom! So exciting! Let me get a picture of you two!" Autumn enthused, holding up her camera in preparation to take a picture.

"That way we can look back on this day and remember it was the start of something big." Autumn explained her rationale.

Rebecca smiled as the camera flashed, knowing that this school would definitely be the start of something _very_ big.

With a study room set up, that meant it was time to, well, study!

Of course, since none of them had any textbooks, that meant Rebecca had to run to a nearby classroom to burrow some extra books. Hopefully they'd be able to buy books just for the study rooms once the school had more students.

By the time their impromptu study session was over, Rebecca was definitely feeling smarter than she had before.

"Look at you, hitting the books already!" Autumn remarked pleasantly.

Rebecca smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed "well, I am a bit of a nerd." She admitted

The school was off to a great start. When she said this aloud, Autumn smiled at the two other girls.

"What did I tell you? This school has so much potential!" Autumn looked quite proud of herself

"Now, let's see if anyone else here wants to improve themselves…" she added, eyeing Isabella, who had looked a little lost during all the studying.

Smiling, Rebecca turned to the somewhat frightened-looking Jock and began a second study session, making sure to carefully explain all the concepts.

From what she could tell, it seemed to have done some good, and Isabella definitely understood the subject a bit better.

"Thanks, Rebecca! I'm feeling smarter already!" the jock remarked, looking at the other girl in gratitude.

Rebecca was about to answer when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Frowning, she pulled it out and read the text.

'Meet me in the parking lot, now

-Kara'

That was definitely…weird.

"Huh…I just got a text from some girl named Kara. She's demanding I meet her out in the parking lot…" she explained, noticing Autumn's worried look. Of course, this only served to make them _more_ worried.

"That must be Kara Sinclair. She's the head cheerleader at Hearst. She's not someone you want to mess with." Apparently Autumn had noticed her lack of understanding.

Of course, that didn't really matter to Rebecca. What was really important was…

"How does she even know my number?" It really didn't make any sense whatsoever.

"Oh, she's an expert in rumours and blackmail. I'm sure it was easy for her to find it." Right, that was worrying. "Rebecca, you shouldn't meet her alone…" Autumn advised

Rolling her eyes, Rebecca shot a meaningful look at Isabella "who said I'm going alone?" she asked

Isabella nodded and stood up, following Rebecca to the parking lot to meet whatever girl was delusional enough to think she could boss her around.

"Ready for this, Isabella?" she asked, noticing that the girl in question seemed to be a bit tense.

The jock balled her fists and seemed to be summoning all of her courage, looking a lot more confident when she was done.

"Oh yeah. Let's see if this Kara girl is as tough as she seems to be." She stated boldly, looking ready for war.

"She might have her boyfriend Max with her. His dad's the principal at Hearst High!" Autumn warned, once again startling Rebecca. That girl was a ninja!

The prospect of going up against the son of a principal was a bit worrying, but Rebecca would never admit it. Instead, she forced herself to appear the very essence of calm.

"Don't worry, Autumn." She assured her, "Isabella and I have this under control."

When they arrived at the parking lot, a girl and a guy were both waiting for them. Rebecca assumed that these two were Kara and Max.

"So, Loser High got its first loser." The boy taunted. Suddenly, the prospect of going up against the principal's son was a lot less daunting, and Rebecca found herself with a sudden desire to punch the arrogant boy in the face.

Thankfully, she resisted the urge to punch the boy. She was a scrawny little nerd, and he was a buff jock. Even in her enraged state, it was clear who the odds would favour.

At that point, the girl looked over at Autumn and sneered.

"And look, Little Miss Quirkface is already over here. I always knew Autumn was a dork, but I never thought she was a traitor…" This was said with such an air of arrogance that Rebecca already knew she disliked the girl.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one getting enraged by the two, since Isabella stepped forward.

"Hey, back off! What do you have against our school anyway?" she demanded, and Rebecca was a little touched by how quickly the girl had adopted the new school as her own.

"There's a plan for this land, and it doesn't involve your crappy school!" The boy proclaimed, and Rebecca decided to remember that comment to tell her uncle later.

But for now, she had reached her breaking point.

"I don't know who you two think you are, but you can't just go around bullying people" she said firmly.

Of course, the girl didn't seem the slightest bit worried by this comment, and immediately stepped into Rebecca's personal space.

"And what are you going to do about it?" she demanded in a haughty tone that showed how she expected Rebecca to simply give way.

Not going to happen.

"Well, I certainly can't hit you." Mostly because she was a scrawny little nerd "With all that caked-on makeup, it's like you're wearing face-armour."

"Excuse me?" Kara exclaimed, obviously outraged. This was kind of fun.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you intentionally going for the 'trashy clown' look?" Rebecca asked before continuing without giving her a chance to cut in. "If so, you still kind of overdid it on the eye-liner."

By this point, Isabella and Autumn were both supressing giggles at Kara's furious expression.

"This is so not funny. I'm not going to forget this." The girl threatened in a manner that was not at all threatening.

"Enjoy your crappy school while you can, loser. Because it's NOT going to be around long." The boy claimed, glaring at them like one would glare at a particularly nasty slug.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rebecca questioned, still feeling a buzz from the way she had insulted the girl.

"All new schools need at least fifteen students to stay open. And with Hearst High right next door…well, you've got a lot to compete with." The boy boasted.

Well, that could be problematic.

Seeing the look of worry on her face, the boy and the girl laughed coldly as they walked off.

"Now you can see why I don't really like being at Hearst High…" Autumn muttered.

By this point, Rebecca still had a lot of left-over anger from the confrontation, and was determined to put it to good use.

"Oh, I see, all right. And I don't think anyone else should have to put up with people like them." Frankly, she was surprised that the two were actually allowed to wander without supervision.

"I'm going to make this the best high school this town has ever seen, and I'm going to open it up to anyone who wants to come here." Rebecca announced to the other two.

"For everyone who feels bullied…ignored…or just plain lost…this will be the place for them." She was sure her uncle would be glad to help, especially if it improved the school's reputation.

"Oh, Rebecca…I wish I could transfer here…" Autumn sighed wistfully, reminding Rebecca that the artist was still forced to go to the same school as those crimes against humanity.

"Just give it time, Autumn. I know we'll be able to convince your dad." She reassured, smiling comfortingly at the girl.

It seemed to work.

"Yeah, well, right now, I need to get back to Hearst. I'll see you later, Rebecca." Autumn told them, readjusting her bag strap before walking off to Hearst High with a wave.

Turning to Isabella, who had stayed silent for most of the conversation, Rebecca decided she still needed to gather ideas for how to improve the school.

"So, Isabella, what do you think? What else do we need?"

"Well, we've got brains," she said, gesturing to Rebecca, "and we've got sports…" at this, she flexed her bicep to display her muscles, "but we really don't have much in the way of the style…"

Looking at the bland grey buildings of the skill, she had to admit that they were definitely lacking a certain…flair.

"I bet if we could get a prep to join, they could make the school look a whole lot cooler, and that would mean more people interested in joining. The only problem is that we'd need to make the place attractive to start with." Isabella explained

"It's a dilemma" Rebecca agreed, before noticing Isabella's confusion.

"A problem" she clarified.

Walking back into the hallway where they had already set up two hangouts, they started discussing possible ways to make the school attractive to a prep. Eventually, they decided to just put in some flowers until they could get some feedback.

Pulling some flowers out from the field was easy, as was finding some vases to put the flowers in. When they were done, the room was noticeably nicer looking. Rebecca made a mental note to save up some money for a coffee machine to put in the room.

"Awesome! Now we just need a prep to hang out here!" Isabella commented once they were finished making the room as prep-worthy as they knew how to.

The two then parted ways, with Isabella going to work out in the jock hangout, and Rebecca going to see if she could find any preps interested in joining the school.

When she arrived at the Office, almost all of the students from before had left, leaving only one red-headed girl who was checking her phone compulsively.

"Hello?" Rebecca greeted, careful not to startle the girl.

The girl's head immediately snapped up to look at Rebecca, and there was an awkward silence before she spoke.

"…Hi"

"So…where'd everyone go?" Rebecca asked, remembering there having been more people lingering out front.

The girl shrugged "Kara got mad about something and everyone scattered."

"Oh…why didn't you?" Rebecca asked, struggling to suppress a snicker.

"I...don't think I can handle going back." The girl explained, looking defeated.

"Would you like to join our school?" Rebecca asked hopefully, reminded of her impromptu speech and wanting to give this girl a place to belong.

The girl shot her a surprised look and nodded in agreement upon seeing that it was not a prank of some sort. So the two went into the Office and quickly filled out the paperwork, admitting a new student to the school.

"I'm Karen" the girl introduced, smiling with unadulterated joy as Rebecca lead her down the hallway to the hangout they had set up for any prep students, which Karen was delighted by.

"These flowers are so beautiful!" she commented, going over to get a closer look at the potted plants.

Rebecca smiled "Welcome to our school, Karen." She told the girl, a smile on her face.

"Good to be here! Does anyone want to party? Because I would love to party…" Karen responded, smiling.

The rest of the day was spent talking and mostly just hanging out, after explaining the school's current self-study policy to a delighted Karen, and Rebecca had to admit she was a little saddened when it was time to leave the school.

Her new school hadn't been everything she had been expecting, but her first day had certainly been memorable, in more than one way. She had even made some new friends.

 **A/N: So, this is my first shot at writing a High School Story fanfiction. I'm actually playing through the game as I write these chapters, so a lot of the dialogue is lifted from the game (and then tweaked slightly). Also, I'm toying with the idea of giving Rebecca an in-universe blog, with her writing about her new school in the blog. Let me know your thoughts on that idea.**

 **Remember, reviews are always welcome! (Even flames. I'm weird)**


	2. Chapter 2

Rebecca didn't get to see her uncle that day, but didn't think much of it. She had gone for weeks without seeing him in the past. So long as the fridge stayed fully stocked, and they remained out of jelly snakes, her uncle was lurking around somewhere.

Figuring that her uncle was probably busy with his new school, Rebecca penned a quick note about what had happened on her first day, making sure to write about what the boy had told her and finishing it off with a reminder to hire teachers for the school. The note was then covered in glitter and stuck to her uncle's bedroom door, so that he couldn't miss it.

The next day, Rebecca would admit she was actually _excited_ when she arrived at school, and she wasn't the only one. Isabella was talking animatedly with Karen about how much effect cheerleaders actually had on the outcome of a game. Apparently, cheerleaders did more than Rebecca had ever even suspected.

When Rebecca came over, the topic of conversation then switched to a band that Karen was particularly fond of, and who Isabella and Rebecca had both heard of. Rebecca honestly preferred Techno music above all else, but the band did have a few songs which she really liked.

"Hey! Rebecca!" Autumn called out, startling the girl in question yet again. She was going to have to put a bell on the artist if this kept up.

"I know we need to get more students to keep this place open…and I thought of someone we might be able to recruit!" Autumn told them, walking over to join the conversation.

Karen looked confused by the prospect that they would need more students to keep the school open, and Isabella quickly filled her in on their main problem. Meanwhile, Rebecca was silently pleased by the prospect of yet another student. Hopefully, it would be another nerd.

"His name's Julian, and he's a star football player at Hearst High." Well, there go her dreams. "But, well, he's been having some problems there." Autumn explained, Isabella looking excited by the prospect of another athlete to join the school.

"I'll go get him, but in the meantime, keep recruiting for your school! We're going to need a lot more people, and it'll help us impress Julian." She told them, walking back to the hell known as Hearst High.

"Oh, and if you have a sec, Rachel, I want to talk to you about something. Come find me when you have the time." Isabella cut in, looking apprehensive as she went off in the direction of the gym. Clearly, she wasn't the only one to notice it, judging by Karen's worried expression.

"Karen, can you try recruiting someone new to the school?" she asked, "I'm going to see what Isabella wants to talk about." At Karen's nod, she went off in the direction she had seen the jock take, curious.

When she arrived at the gym, Isabella was looking through the equipment in the supply room, unaware of the entering nerd.

"Hey, Isabella!" Rebecca called out, trying not to giggle at Isabella's startled expression. Now she knew why Autumn kept doing it.

"You said you wanted to talk about something?" she asked once the athlete had gotten over her surprise.

"I've been thinking a lot about the school…and I've got some big ideas!" Okay, but that didn't explain why they couldn't talk about it in front of Karen.

"Okay, let's talk. I want to hear all about them!" Rebecca enthused, wanting to know all about these 'big ideas'

"This school could really use something special. Something that makes it stand out from other schools." That still didn't explain why they couldn't talk about it in front of Karen. Getting the prep involved would probably actually _help_ them in making the school stand out

"That's a great idea!" Autumn piped up, freaking Rebecca out. Hadn't she gone back to Hearst?! "This place is like a blank canvas just waiting for you to make your mark on it!"

"Some decorations would go a long way." Isabella agreed, apparently not surprised by the ninja-artist.

They were both looking at Rebecca expectantly, and she had to admit it was a good idea. The school did definitely look a bit bland. However, leaving the prep out of the conversation still made no sense.

"Let's do it!" the nerd agreed, "So, where can we start? What can we do?" she asked, hoping they would realise that getting Karen's help on this matter was probably a good idea.

"We're only limited by your imagination!" Autumn said. The place was going to end up a hodgepodge of assorted decorations.

"Well, in a more realistic sense, we're also limited by which decorations we can buy." Autumn added, "But hey! This is your chance to give this place some personality!"

Wasn't personality what kids had when they didn't have anything else?

"I think we should start with something simple. Maybe a flower box?" Isabella suggested. Flowers could work, and Karen would probably love them. The only problem is…

"Those cost 25 dollars each" Rebecca pointed out, not liking how fast she was burning through her money in renovating the school. At this, Isabella wordlessly handed over a $10 bill.

Seeing that neither of them were going to take 'no' for an answer, Rebecca went to the mini-mart across the street and the school got a box of flowers.

"Well? What do you think?" Rebecca asked once the flower box was set in place

"Oh yeah…those flowers look great! This place is starting to look really nice!" Isabella enthused, sounding more like Karen than herself.

"You know, we could take some really good photos here!" Autumn suggested, holding up her camera "Say cheese!"

The next thirty minutes were spent posing and goofing around, with the thirty minutes after that spent looking at all the pictures Autumn had taken, while Rebecca tried to count them.

"Okay, that's…wow…200 photos of us posing in front of all the decorations." Rebecca commented once she had added up the total, gesturing to the flower box as she did so.

Autumn, to her credit, had the decency to look embarrassed "I might've gotten carried away." She admitted.

"So you know, I'm not the only one around who could use a hand. Remember to help all our classmates when they need it." Isabella advised, even though Karen was currently the only other classmate they had.

"Of course. What are friends for?" Rebecca asked light-heartedly, hoping they wouldn't object to the moniker of 'friends'. They had only known each other for a day or so, after all.

Waving goodbye to the two girls, Rebecca went to see how Karen had done with recruiting new students. Apparently, the prep had managed to find someone, since she was excitedly talking to a somewhat overwhelmed-looking boy wearing a beanie over his wavy brown hair.

When Rebecca arrived, Karen pointed her out the boy, who looked relieved when he saw her walking over.

"Rebecca! I'd like you to meet Zayn. He's already finished up his paperwork and everything." Karen introduced, looking proud of herself.

The boy, Zayn, smiled at her shyly "nice to meet you. I'm Zayn and I'm a bit of a nerd." He introduced unnecessarily as Karen beamed proudly.

"Welcome to our school, Zayn. Want to see the nerd-cave?" Rebecca offered, seeing the way that Zayn's eyes lit up at the mention of a nerd-cave.

When they arrived at the nerd-cave, Zayn immediately began looking through the comics that Rebecca had left on the table for anyone to read through if they felt like it. The whole time, they had been discussing their interests and Rebecca had learnt that Zayn's main interests were within the realms of Chemistry.

He also seemed rather pleased by the concept of self-study that the school used, claiming that it made it easier for students who care about their learning to get ahead. Rebecca didn't think that their self-study worked like that, but kept quiet.

Going back to the Office while Zayn read through her comics, Rebecca found Autumn standing in front of the school with a boy in a football uniform.

"Hey. Autumn said you're recruiting people." The boy introduced, who Rebecca guessed was Julian.

"Julian's a big football star at Hearst High. But he's been having some problems there. You remember Max?" Autumn asked before continuing at Rebecca's affirmative nod.

"Max joined the team a few weeks ago, and the principal insists that he gets to play Julian's position!" the artist explained.

"That's terrible." Rebecca deadpanned, even though she knew she should probably be a bit nicer.

"Look, I didn't sign up for a share circle where we talk about our feelings. This is my problem. No one else's." Julian stated firmly. Technically, if the star player was being replaced, it was also the football team's problem.

"I just think it's unfair. And you don't have to be treated that way! You can join this school!" Autumn enthused to Julian, who seemed to be genuinely thinking it over

"Well, here's the big question: how's your football team?" Julian asked. Crap.

"We…uh…don't exactly have a football team right now. We're just starting out." Rebecca explained nervously, knowing that the star football player of Hearst High would need a football team to play on. Why didn't she think of that?!

"No team? Then this was a waste of time. Autumn, you don't know me very well, but I'm a football guy. What would I do here? At least at Hearst I get _some_ time on the field." Julian determined, having apparently made his choice.

This was bad. There had to be _some_ way to convince Julian to join. He was staying at Hearst because they had a football team there, so…

"We could start a football program here." Rebecca thought to herself, unaware that she said the last part aloud.

"Oh yeah? You know a lot about football?" Julian looked genuinely curious, hopefully reconsidering his schooling options.

In all honesty, Rebecca knew next to nothing about football, just that it's a sport and that you don't actually use your feet for it. She was definitely going to thoroughly interrogate Isabella about various sports when she next got a chance.

"Football isn't really my thing…" she admitted, looking down at her scuffed loafers awkwardly.

"But you're going to start a team? Well, here's something basic. Think you got anyone here who can go long?" Julian asked before winding up and preparing to throw the football he was carrying.

Isabella. Isabella could probably go long. But she was all the way on the other side of the school, and it didn't look like there was anybody else around to catch the ball Julian was about to throw. So, it looked like she was going to have to catch it.

"Looks like it's just me." Rebecca replied, smiling nervously. Hopefully she would just miss the ball, and wouldn't get hit in the face or anything.

"Are you ready, Rebecca?" He asked, apparently picking up on her nerves and trying to psyche her up. To his credit, it did work a little.

"So ready!" Rebecca lied, nerves bubbling in her stomach like attacking butterflies.

Julian waited a moment while she ran to the best of her ability, getting a slight head-start before he threw the football in a spiral that even she could tell was impressive.

As the ball neared her, she realised that she was actually going to have to catch it, and held out her hands in a desperate bid to grab the flying ball. It worked, sort of. She fumbled with the ball a bit, and almost dropped it, but she still technically caught it.

"Got it!" Rebecca called out unnecessarily, holding the ball above her head proudly. That was her first time doing something football-related, and she hadn't entirely screwed up!

"Nice catch…" Julian commented, obviously willing to humour the celebrating nerd who was genuinely considering doing her happy dance. He then began walking over her to reclaim the ball.

Of course, going long requires you to run, and Rebecca was still running at this point. Mostly in a circle while she celebrated, but it was still running. With her celebrating, she was too busy to notice what direction she was going in until it was almost too late.

She skidded to a halt, colliding with the wall with a grunt of pain. Having had time to skid to a halt, it wasn't that bad, although she suspected that her torso would be complaining about the impact for some time.

"That last part could use some work." Julian teased, grinning when Rebecca stuck her tongue out at him immaturely, before turning serious again.

"I'm sorry, guys. But you don't even have enough room around here to throw a ball! I'm not crazy about Hearst, but at least they've got a field." He explained. Technically, the school did have a field, but a bunch of Hearst High Students had thoroughly littered in it shortly after construction.

There was no way of knowing who the culprits were either, although Rebecca suspected Max was involved in some way.

Checking his watch, Julian frowned. "Anyway, I've got to head back. There's a big game today, and there's even going to be a college scout there." He then turned to the artist. "Hey, Autumn, are you coming?" he asked.

"Uh, I wasn't planning on it…I mean, I'm not really into football…" Autumn flustered, much like a girl trying to tell a boy she only likes him as a friend.

"Oh. Right. Yeah, of course." Julian responded, looking a bit saddened by her answer.

"Well, I could make an exception. I mean, maybe I could take some photos there." Autumn smoothed over, apparently noticing his expression.

"Yeah? That would be cool." Julian told Autumn before looking a bit embarrassed by his words. "I mean, if you want to. No big deal." He amended before waving to the both of them and walking off.

Throughout most of this exchange, Rebecca had simply been watching with quiet confusion as the two repeatedly got flustered and awkward. And people said _she_ had poor social skills?

"Sounds like he's out…" Rebecca mused aloud, making a mental note to start clearing up the field sometime soon.

"I think we still have a shot at recruiting Julian. But he's right about not having enough space here…" Autumn reassured, despite the fact that Rebecca was well aware that they still had a shot.

Well, she could probably get Isabella to help out with that. Of course, first she had to find her, so she started by checking inside the room that the jock had claimed for herself.

Lo and behold, the jock was standing inside and flicking through a sports magazine whilst sitting on a table, looking up when Rebecca entered.

"Hey, Rebecca. Got a sec?" Isabella stood up, leaving her magazine lying open on the table as she stretched her arms out.

'What's up?" Rebecca wondered, figuring that she would be able to help out and then get some assistance in cleaning up the field.

"I need a little help. See, the Iron Warrior Challenge is coming up this weekend…" The jock explained without really explaining anything whatsoever.

"Is that, like a cooking contest?" Rebecca had no idea what kind of challenge Isabella was talking about, but nonetheless found herself reminded of some cooking show that her grandmother loved to watch

"What? No! It's a great test of physical fitness! A three-step endurance challenge, modelled after the training rituals of ancient Spartan warriors." Isabella almost seemed a little offended by her question.

"The winner has to prove themselves in a two mile race…hit a bullseye with an arrow at 60 feet…and beat three opponents at fencing!"

"That sounds…gruelling" Rebecca commented, wanting to say that the challenge sounded completely and utterly insane.

"gruellingly amazing!"

"I'm not sure those two words have ever been used like that…" Rebecca pointed out uncertainly, before deciding to change the subject at the look Isabella was giving her, "So is this going to be your first time competing?"

"Actually, I competed last year and it…didn't work out…" Isabella muttered sadly, before perking up, "But that's in the past! This year, I'm gonna win, and I'm gonna win big!"

"Only thing is…I could use a little help." Now she was on the sad side again. It was a little confusing

"What is it?"

"Well, I need to work on my sprinting, and I run a lot better if I've got someone to race against. Mind running with me?"

Rebecca was a nerd, not a jock. She didn't really _do_ running. But Isabella didn't have any other jocks to run with, so it looked like it was up to her.

But she was also the owner's niece, and she had a responsibility to the school that included encouraging new students to join. And that needed more room for a sports program.

So she sent a text to Karen, asking her if she could please help clean up the field, before joining Isabella out on the track, which had thankfully escaped litter.

"All right! 2 mile race! You ready to do this?" Isabella asked, once they were at the starting line.

"Ready if you are…just don't get too upset if I beat you to the finish!" Rebecca taunted, knowing that there was no way she would beat Isabella.

Naturally, Isabella won.

"Huff…huff…whoo! That felt good!" Isabella enthused, a grin stuck to her face

"You're…pretty…fast…" Rebecca panted, glad she wasn't the kind of crazy person who enjoyed racing.

"Well, I've got to be." Isabella commented, as though it was no big deal, "The Iron Warrior Challenge is no joke!"

"Need help with anything else?"

"Actually, yeah. The next phase of the Challenge is an archery competition…" Weird. Rebecca's cousin did archery. He was even hoping to shoot professionally someday.

"If this involves putting an apple on my head, I'm out." Rebecca joked, remembering a scene from a cartoon she used to love when she was little.

"Ha, no, nothing like that. I just need some new targets to shoot at. I used to practice in my backyard, but my mom made me stop after I put an arrow through her bird-feeder." That seemed like a perfectly good reason to stop archery.

"Getting you some new targets? I'll see what I can do!" Rebecca pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to her cousin, asking for a favour.

She could also see in her messages that Karen had finished clearing up a patch of the field, and that the prep was grossed out by the amount of rubbish everywhere.

Smiling to herself, she left Isabella to continue her exercise, and went to check out the new patch of field. Surprisingly, Autumn was there as well.

"Nice!" The artist appraised, "I guess we better buy tickets to that football game so we can watch Julian. I mean, cheer for Julian. I mean…"

"I think I get what you mean." Rebecca had to suppress a smirk

"I'm just trying to show that this new school is enthusiastic about sports! We have to go. For the good of the school!" Autumn tried to rationalise, to no avail.

Rolling her eyes, Rebecca pulled out a handful of coins to pay for her ticket, and the two walked over to Hearst High. As a way to thank Karen for helping to clean up the field, Rebecca invited the prep and even paid for her ticket.

On the way, she got a text back from her cousin, saying that he'd be happy to lend her a few of his old archery targets, but he couldn't bring them in until tomorrow. Rebecca sent this information on to Isabella

When they arrived at the field, the game had already begun, and Autumn quickly filled the nerd in on the basics of the game while Karen left to buy snacks. Finding Julian was a bit difficult, as the quarterback wasn't anywhere on the field.

That was when Autumn looked elsewhere, and pointed to the sidelines with a gasp and a horrified expression on her face.

They could see Julian grumbling and pacing in front of a bench, while the coach glared furiously at him

"Come on! Put me in!" Julian practically begged, looking desperate.

"What's going on? Why isn't the coach letting him play?" Rebecca questioned, remembering the jock's skill with the ball

"My guess? The coach wants the spotlight on Max. No chance of that if Julian is playing." Autumn guessed bitterly, as if she had a sour taste in her mouth.

"That doesn't look good." The nerd deadpanned, noticing out of the corner of her eye that the referee was holding up a yellow card and pointing at a furious Max.

Down on the field, the other team's coach called a timeout. As Max ran back to the bench, he shouldered past Julian, obviously still upset over the card.

"Aw, is someone sad because he's not going to get to play? Maybe if you cry, Coach will put you in." Max taunted, making Rebecca's blood boil. It was one thing to make Julian sit out, but it was another thing altogether to then rub his nose in it!

Apparently, she wasn't the only one to think so.

"That's it!" Julian called out, having evidently reached his breaking point just as Karen re-joined the two with several bags of sweets.

Julian launched himself at Max, and the two hit the ground, punching and swinging. The crowd in the stands started shouting. Rebecca was cheering for Julian, much to Autumn's dismay.

She _had_ said they should cheer for Julian.

"We've got to stop this!" The artist exclaimed, apparently not impressed with the curly-haired girl.

"I'll handle this." Karen stated firmly, pushing past the throng of shouting spectators to reach the fighting boys.

"Good luck. And be careful!" Autumn yelled to the girl, apparently not worried enough to go with the redhead. Rebecca was still shouting encouragements to Julian.

"Okay, break it up! That's enough!" Karen demanded, once she had reached the two jocks.

Seeing that the two weren't listening to her, the prep dived in between them, shoving them back with the kind of strength you would expect from Isabella.

"No one asked you to get involved! Who do you think you are?" Max appeared to be nursing a bloody nose, much to Rebecca's delight.

"Let's just say I'm a concerned citizen." Karen retorted coolly.

On the field, the referee blew a whistle, and the crowd booed.

"You just cost us fifteen yards." Max complained to Julian, although Rebecca still didn't understand what yards were.

The Hearst High coach looked even angrier than before. He pointed to Julian and yelled for him to hit the showers.

"Aww, looks like someone just got thrown out of the game. Gotta watch that temper, buddy." Max taunted yet again, apparently not having learnt his lesson.

"I…" Julian looked heartbroken. Rebecca and Autumn both slipped past the settling crowd to provide some moral support.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Rebecca advised, pleased to note that Julian didn't seem to have sustained any injuries in his fight.

Once Julian had quickly showered, the group returned to the unnamed school belonging to Rebecca's uncle.

"Julian, how could you do that?" Autumn demanded once they were on school grounds, having apparently gotten over her earlier shock.

"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have gone after him, but that was not cool! Coach doesn't play me for the whole game, and then Max wants to laugh in my face about it?" Even Rebecca could see that was less than fair.

"That doesn't mean you can just attack him." Autumn protested, apparently not pleased with this explanation.

"…you're right. I was out of control. Thanks for stepping in, Karen." Julian muttered, ashamed.

"I'm glad I could help. That was insane." Karen commented flippantly, as though she routinely prised apart brawling football players.

"Yeah. After that, Coach isn't going to give me another chance, not with Max calling the shots." Julian's phone buzzed, and he looked down at a text message, "Great. The principal called my dad and told him everything. He's ballistic."

"Rebecca, I can't go home. Not right now. Do you have anywhere around here I can hang out and clear my head?"

Silently, Rebecca pointed to a folding chair that had been taken from the auditorium.

"Thanks." Julian deadpanned, sitting nevertheless.

"That was really scary, Julian. You know, you can't always punch your problems away." Autumn fretted, apparently having moved past rage into concern.

"You don't get it…" Julian muttered, bowing his head.

"I'd like to. I know you're a tough guy, and you like to be all tough and brooding and muscular…" Autumn rambled, getting off topic

"You think I'm muscular?" Apparently Julian noticed.

"I…um…my point is, I'm worried about you. What happened out there?" Autumn flustered, trying to get back on topic.

"Look, I'm not some nerd who can make a million dollars on the computer. I'm not artistic the way you are…I know what I'm good at, and it's football. That the one thing I've got going for me." Julian explained with a slightly defeatist air about him.

"My only shot at getting into college is a football scholarship. And to get one, I have to impress a scout." He continued, "Today could've changed everything for me. And Coach didn't even let me play! I just couldn't take it."

"I get it. You lost your temper. I don't think it was right, but I get it." Autumn seemed to have gotten over the fight now, thankfully

"Anyway, thanks for letting me stay here, Rebecca. Really decent of you." Well, it was nice to know that Julian thought she was 'decent'

"Hey, you're welcome to stay. Permanently." Rebecca suggested, realising a fraction of a second too late that she had sounded vaguely serial-killery

"Yeah! Enrol at Rebecca's school." Apparently Autumn hadn't noticed her slip-up.

"Hey, like I said, I'm a football guy. What am I going to do here if I'm not playing football? I need to be on a team that scouts will consider." Julian pointed out, much to Rebecca's worry. They still had nowhere near enough people for a team of any type. Not that she would ever tell him that.

"You'll be starting the team. We've already got people here who are ready to play. Let them show you what they can do." Rebecca urged, thinking that college scouts might be impressed by Julian starting his own team.

"Oh yeah? I'll give you a shot. Let's go."

A few quick texts was all it took, and soon the rest of the school was standing on the field with them, Isabella looking pumped and Zayn looking nervous. Karen looked ambivalent.

"Let's do this!" Okay, so maybe not ambivalent.

"I'm ready!" Isabella continued, while Zayn stayed quiet.

"I like the attitude. But I need to see if you guys are all talk." Julian informed them, starting the game.

"Go, Zayn! Catch that ball!" Karen called, throwing the ball in question towards the beanie-wearing nerd.

"Got it!" He proclaimed, huffing and puffing.

"Not bad!" Julian seemed surprised, "I have to admit, I'm impressed. You guys managed to keep up with me. Good hustle…and quick thinking. Especially you, Bella. You could be quarterback material."

"Heh. Thanks." The dark-skinned girl commented, catching her breath.

"Now, this school's still got a long way to go. A handful of kids running a few football plays is a long way from a football team that can bring home a win." Julian told them all, "You've still got to work on your stamina and your speed. Not to mention your footwork." At this, he glanced at Zayn, who had tripped at least 5 times while playing.

"But you know what I see in this group? Teamwork. That's something Hearst High forgot a long time ago. Together, we can get this school a winning team. And we'll take down Hearst High." Well, it looked like Julian was ready to join up at last.

"Is that your way of saying you'll enrol?" Rebecca asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

"I'd be honoured to join your school." Julian said, and Rebecca couldn't help the smile that stretched across her face.

By the time Julian filled out his transfer forms, the day was at it's end. So the five students of a nameless school (and Autumn) all parted ways happily.


End file.
